• Macquarie Bank has agreed to buy GE Capital's Pacific Premium Funding business in Australia and New Zealand. Macquarie has provided negligible disclosure over its premium funding business in the past, and GE has also limited disclosure about its business. A media release yesterday said the acquisition will "provide scope for product and service innovation for insurance intermediaries, brokers and their clients." The bank said the integration period may take up to 12 months.• Only a simple majority of staff voting on a proposed pay deal for St George staff is needed to endorse the deal, for 2014, which is linked to performance - not the 85 per cent that was reported in Banking Day yesterday. Voting by St George and Westpac staff on a proposed new enterprise agreement closed yesterday.• Westpac says it has appointed Ewen Crouch to its board. Crouch is a partner with law firm Allens Arthur Robinson and specialises in mergers and acquisitions.• Business equipment financier Silver Chef issued earnings guidance yesterday, saying that its earnings for the six months to December would be between 12.7 and 18.3 per cent higher than for the previous corresponding period. While the forecast looks positive compared with recent bank results, it represents a slowing of growth for the hospitality industry specialist. Earnings were up more than 25 per cent in the six months to December 2011, and were up 34 per cent for the year to June.• ASIC has permanently banned former mortgage broker Driss Doukari from engaging in credit activities or providing financial service, after finding he engaged in false and misleading conduct. ASIC said that at the time of his conduct Doukari was an employee of Dynamic Finance Solutions.